"It is expensive,” said Val Lopez, of TxDOT. “And even though it impacts our budget significantly, we feel it improves driving conditions."

He estimated it costs $40,000 per day just to treat highways in Tarrant County with the chemical.

Sand & Salt vs. Meltdown 20

TxDot uses Meltdown 20 to battle ice on roads, but most cities say the chemical is too expensive.

(Published Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2009)

TxDOT is responsible for clearing area highways, while cities focus more on major streets within city limits.

"It does work well,” said Fort Worth spokeswoman Janice Thompson-Burgess. “But if you look at the cost of that, then we have to analyze that for our residents, and we don't get enough icy storms to stockpile that or to purchase that."

Fort Worth uses a mixture of 95 percent sand and 5 percent salt.

“We've found that our mixture works well for us,” Thompson-Burgess said.